I guess I should have answered this question before I read the articles. However, my idea of how reading is learned comes from only my experience as a pre-school teacher. I have always said for me personally the first time a child decodes a word is almost more exciting than the first step. My experience in a Montessori classroom has shown me that children can perform many exercises that prepare them for early reading among which include doing everything from left to right. Picture recognition and exercises in picture matching can provide good preparation for later recognizing letters. While working with children on the phonics, providing them with movable objects that begin with sounds we are teaching them seems to be helpful. Also having them trace the letter on raised letter boards as well as using a sand tray for tracing helps the child imprint the sound on their brain. I very much like the fact that we rarely call letters by their name but rather byt the sound they make. Reading seems to occur for many in our school in a very natural manner with little stress or frustration. Children seem to enjoy journal writing and picture story where they learn to talk about what they see and that words in the journal can tell their own story.
I think that many of the methods we use in the montessori curriculum to teach langauge and reading could be very beneficial to those who have difficulty learning and perhaps they could learn more easily by touching and feeling. It is far easier to teach with the concrete materials before moviung on the the written.
In conclusion, I guess I have a lot to learn about different methods of teaching reading and I am anxious to do so, and hope that i can adopt some of these methods too.
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Essential Questions and Mary's answers
The definition literacy was extremely helpful in providing me with the actual elements, "phonological awareness, decoding, fluency, comprehension, and vocabulary" that are a part of literacy. As a pre school teacher I am constantly working on the first two and occassionaly get to fluency with a small number of children, but have actually forgotten that comprehension and vocabulary have to be considered even at this level. Although there are many matching games, concentration games and other activities that help in developing these skills, it still helped to see the definition in print in order to make myself more aware of the elements as I design new materials this summer for the new school year.
One thing I definitely take exception to is including computer skills as a part of determing a person's literacy level. If this is the case then I am clearly illiterate! That being said, I think there is some merit to considering people literate in many different ways, but I prefer that they are kept separate.
I also had some issues with the diverse definitions of literacy that would include one's ability to "solve problems as a family member, worker, and citizen". Perhaps literacy can help one be better in all of these areas of life but I disagree with considering this as in fact part of the definition of literacy. Similarly, I can agree with the concept of including art as a form of literacy and think that it is an integral part of teaching leteracy but is only one component. I think I may need to further understand how an"arts-based" education adresses the teaching of literacy.
I would very much like to learn more during this course or perhaps after about the whole langauge approach to literacy as well as more details regarding the variuous reading programs along with feedback from educators, parents, and students about them.
As I read through the article on Literacy, I found myself definitely agreeing with the strong correlation between literacy level and socio-economic status. I can say first hand as the child of immigrants (one of which who struggled greatly with reading having recieved little formal education and the other who was more or less self educated through reading and cross word puzzles) that their income potential was significantly limited. They both held low paying jobs and were unable to own a home or many other things that come with the American Dream. Fortunately they valued the importance of education and therefore assured that I recieved one through college. It would also appear at first reading that perhaps wealth can also be somewhat linked to education, however I do not think these two factors are as closely related. I have many friends that have numerous degrees and would not be considered the wealthiest individuals as per the definition of wealth in American. However, having taught in Upper Montclair for a number of years it would seem there is some relationship between level of education, literacy and wealth.
I thought the statistics provided on literacy in various countries was interesting, specifically in China, Cuba and Vietnam where a marxist ideopogy is almost being crdited for the rapid increase in literacy. I would definitely be intersted in learning more about what their reading programs consist of in materials and methods. Also intersting was the statistics on the European Jews of the Middle ages. I grew up a catholic in an orhtodox jewish community in Brooklyn and was always fascinated by the amount of school work yeshiva children had, both in school and at home. Talmud study accounted for 3 hours of the school day and so they lenghtened the day to accomodate that period. What I think most interesting is that this was a movement that was taking place in the middle ages and actually is still today the same as it was 30 years ago when I was a child. It would seem that this is responsible for the high level of education these very literate children achieve as well as the high socio economic level that many of them recognize in their adult life. However, on the flip side what is extremely disturbing in this article is the statistics that inidicate that 20% of the world population is still illiterate.
Adressing the problem of how to eliminate the illiteracy seems to be a daunting task when I read all the various reading programs out there.I guess I have to agree that no one program is the answer but rather a mosaic of all components of various programs that have been found to work well. Also as a pre school teacher and a graduate student of special education, I think it is critical to throw out the idea that the same program is going to work for everyone in your class. As inclusion replaces the contained classroom, no teacher will be able to employ a one size fits all stratedgy in their approach to teaching, and so the McGraw-Hills and others alike will have to work harder or disappear while teachers who really understand the pulse of thier class design programs that work.
I was not so surprised by the article on Silencing Teachers in an Era of Scripted Reading. I had unfortunately had the opportunity to observe a class last spring in Asbury Park in which the teacher used a scripted reading program and math program. Talk about taking the word teach out of teacher! It was very discouraging to me, and even more so because I have returned to school with the specific goal of pursuing a teaching career in a lower income community. Observing this class took away much of my excitment about teaching and creating as I have always been able to do in a Montessori environment. The children appeared lost at times as a result of the quick pace of the lessons. In addition the teachers were frustrated and angry and this spilled over into their delaings with their students. I can believe that the Open COurt system was altered in the middle class neighborhoods. In an observatiopn of a first grade reading class in Nutley, I was impressed by the teacher's enthusiasm about the subject and all the diiferent methods she had employed to teach reading. She had even attended a conference in Rhode Island at her own cost to gather materials and information that would help her students. Her princiopal unlike the administrators in this article was incredibly supportive of his staff and any new ideas they wanted to employ to get the job done.
I understand that there is a state of panic in the lower income districts that is feeding this dictator style of teaching, but in the end it seems like schools will only loose more students through these measures. Children want to communicate with their teachers and want their teachers to relate things to experineces in their lives. This Open Court prevents these opportunities.
The article on the Greatest Art for the Littlest Readers was refreshing. I am glad I saved it for last after the other articles brought me down. I am actually thinking of bringing my frind's little boy who has some serious learning disabilities to the exhibit. It sounds like a great program.
One thing I definitely take exception to is including computer skills as a part of determing a person's literacy level. If this is the case then I am clearly illiterate! That being said, I think there is some merit to considering people literate in many different ways, but I prefer that they are kept separate.
I also had some issues with the diverse definitions of literacy that would include one's ability to "solve problems as a family member, worker, and citizen". Perhaps literacy can help one be better in all of these areas of life but I disagree with considering this as in fact part of the definition of literacy. Similarly, I can agree with the concept of including art as a form of literacy and think that it is an integral part of teaching leteracy but is only one component. I think I may need to further understand how an"arts-based" education adresses the teaching of literacy.
I would very much like to learn more during this course or perhaps after about the whole langauge approach to literacy as well as more details regarding the variuous reading programs along with feedback from educators, parents, and students about them.
As I read through the article on Literacy, I found myself definitely agreeing with the strong correlation between literacy level and socio-economic status. I can say first hand as the child of immigrants (one of which who struggled greatly with reading having recieved little formal education and the other who was more or less self educated through reading and cross word puzzles) that their income potential was significantly limited. They both held low paying jobs and were unable to own a home or many other things that come with the American Dream. Fortunately they valued the importance of education and therefore assured that I recieved one through college. It would also appear at first reading that perhaps wealth can also be somewhat linked to education, however I do not think these two factors are as closely related. I have many friends that have numerous degrees and would not be considered the wealthiest individuals as per the definition of wealth in American. However, having taught in Upper Montclair for a number of years it would seem there is some relationship between level of education, literacy and wealth.
I thought the statistics provided on literacy in various countries was interesting, specifically in China, Cuba and Vietnam where a marxist ideopogy is almost being crdited for the rapid increase in literacy. I would definitely be intersted in learning more about what their reading programs consist of in materials and methods. Also intersting was the statistics on the European Jews of the Middle ages. I grew up a catholic in an orhtodox jewish community in Brooklyn and was always fascinated by the amount of school work yeshiva children had, both in school and at home. Talmud study accounted for 3 hours of the school day and so they lenghtened the day to accomodate that period. What I think most interesting is that this was a movement that was taking place in the middle ages and actually is still today the same as it was 30 years ago when I was a child. It would seem that this is responsible for the high level of education these very literate children achieve as well as the high socio economic level that many of them recognize in their adult life. However, on the flip side what is extremely disturbing in this article is the statistics that inidicate that 20% of the world population is still illiterate.
Adressing the problem of how to eliminate the illiteracy seems to be a daunting task when I read all the various reading programs out there.I guess I have to agree that no one program is the answer but rather a mosaic of all components of various programs that have been found to work well. Also as a pre school teacher and a graduate student of special education, I think it is critical to throw out the idea that the same program is going to work for everyone in your class. As inclusion replaces the contained classroom, no teacher will be able to employ a one size fits all stratedgy in their approach to teaching, and so the McGraw-Hills and others alike will have to work harder or disappear while teachers who really understand the pulse of thier class design programs that work.
I was not so surprised by the article on Silencing Teachers in an Era of Scripted Reading. I had unfortunately had the opportunity to observe a class last spring in Asbury Park in which the teacher used a scripted reading program and math program. Talk about taking the word teach out of teacher! It was very discouraging to me, and even more so because I have returned to school with the specific goal of pursuing a teaching career in a lower income community. Observing this class took away much of my excitment about teaching and creating as I have always been able to do in a Montessori environment. The children appeared lost at times as a result of the quick pace of the lessons. In addition the teachers were frustrated and angry and this spilled over into their delaings with their students. I can believe that the Open COurt system was altered in the middle class neighborhoods. In an observatiopn of a first grade reading class in Nutley, I was impressed by the teacher's enthusiasm about the subject and all the diiferent methods she had employed to teach reading. She had even attended a conference in Rhode Island at her own cost to gather materials and information that would help her students. Her princiopal unlike the administrators in this article was incredibly supportive of his staff and any new ideas they wanted to employ to get the job done.
I understand that there is a state of panic in the lower income districts that is feeding this dictator style of teaching, but in the end it seems like schools will only loose more students through these measures. Children want to communicate with their teachers and want their teachers to relate things to experineces in their lives. This Open Court prevents these opportunities.
The article on the Greatest Art for the Littlest Readers was refreshing. I am glad I saved it for last after the other articles brought me down. I am actually thinking of bringing my frind's little boy who has some serious learning disabilities to the exhibit. It sounds like a great program.
Monday, June 25, 2007
such progress
Hi I'm Mary and I am incredibly impressed with how far I have come in 10 months with my computer skills.
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